Britishvolt in multi-million-pound agreement with UKBIC to scale-up next gen batteries

EV battery pioneer Britishvolt has announced a two-year, multi-million pound agreement with the UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) to manufacture its next generation of battery cells for mass production and commercialisation.

The British company is developing high energy, high nickel battery cells that will give EV drivers greater performance and range.

Jeff Pratt, managing director of The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre, said: “The manufacture of low carbon battery cells is vital for a successful energy transition to Net Zero. We are here to support UK companies scaling up their battery production and up skilling their workforce, and we welcome the opportunity to support Britishvolt on their journey.”

Britishvolt has also successfully developed its first production intent next generation Li-ion cells using UK developed intellectual property, which it says are “exceeding expectations”.

These battery cells, developed and tested late last year at UKBIC, show that Britishvolt’s research and technology developments combined with UKBIC’s industrialisation and scale up capabilities offer a promising battery cell solution of the future.

“This is an incredibly exciting achievement, allowing us to successfully scale up our tailormade battery cells, designed specifically for customer requirements,” said Dr Allan Paterson, chief technical officer at Britishvolt.

The £130 million UKBIC is national battery manufacturing facility based in Coventry that Prime Minister Boris Johnson opened in July 2021. Described by the Prime Minister as “a beacon of innovation and ingenuity”, the centre will support UK industry to bring to market battery technologies for future electrification.

The news from Britishvolt comes just days after it announced it had received an in principle offer of funding by the UK Government to build the first large full cycle Gigaplant in the UK.

Based in Northumberland, the plant will be a major boost for the region securing 3,000 direct highly-skilled jobs and another 5,000+ in the associated supply chains.